Amber Waves! The Beauty of Summer.

 

Oh the beauty of the Northwest! Our Country in general!  Where else in the World can you find such diversity, and differing climates.  I am, of course partial to the Northwest.  I lived in the Mid-West for a few years and couldn't wait to get home.  No offense to Mid-Westerners but, I missed the mountains and the lilacs.  I live outside of a beautiful city, where you can go downtown and stick your kayak in the water, with in five minutes you are hitting rapids.  You can "float the river" all the way through the city!  I grew up going to the lakes (yes plural...there are quite literally hundreds of lakes and creeks and ponds out here.) after school and cliff jumping, swimming, boating, tubing, water skiing....sometimes during school, but that is another story for another time.

This sunflower field is just up the road from us.  You just pull over and walk right up.  What an amazing photo opportunity.  My girlfriend has a professional camera and agreed to take pictures of the kids for me.  She's still editing, these I took with my iPhone.

I'm not a photo expert but I thought this turned out pretty freaking cool!

I love my girls, they thought this was just the neatest thing ever.  Usually this field is planted with wheat.  What a pleasant treat.

What a sweet boy.  He seems to just love life.  I could, and have, learn a lot of life lessons from him.

She see's life in such a sweet innocent way.  She has a sense of humor that keeps us laughing all the time. That is her gift.  We are really striving to show the kids what their gifts are.  As they get older it gets easier to identify them.  I believe one of hers will be a sense of humor.  She reminds me of my brother.  He has the best sense of humor I've ever met. 

 This is my little "bug."  (Short for "Cuddle Love Bug")  One of her biggest gifts is compassion.  If anyone is down, crying, hurt....she's right there to tend to their heart.  She laughs at just about everything and is one of the most expressive kids I have ever met.  She paints her stories with animated gestures and words!

To get this picture, I ducked down below the flowers and held him up...my arms where shaking by the time we were down....but it was worth it...look at that picture.  The ones my girl friend took are even better....

Bug is twirling through the flowers!

 Another crop in our area....Wheat! This particular field was so white and with the green trees and blue skies behind it, it's breath taking!  Those "Amber Waves of Grain" we sing about!

My oldest son, our miracle.  Getting him to take a picture was difficult, he was more interested in this grasshopper! He is also very compassionate.  He has many qualities, and we are still trying to nail down what his gifts are.  He is only two after all.  We have started sharing with him his story.  How Jesus spared him, let him stay here with us.  When he had his episode (a Coarctation of the Aorta that was not caught when he was born until he was coding in the hospital) he had a 5% chance of survival.  The doctors told us he would die, and we watched them perform CPR 12 full minutes. After surgery he was in a coma, and all his organs had shut down.  He made a full recovery.  I tell, you what, that'll change your perspective on life.  He has scars from his heart surgery and from all the needles and tubes they had to shove in him to try to save him. This son of mine loves life! Everything is an adventure to him! It is exhausting trying to keep up with him.

My oldest.  She scares me, only because we are so much alike.  She is a natural leader, and has a servants heart.  That is one of her gifts.  She loves to serve others, and puts them before herself.  Selflessness, how many of us could stand to use a little of that.  I know I could.  She's very sensitive, a very tender heart. She loves animals, and wouldn't ya know it, they love her!

A picture of a picture, my girlfriend was editing pics on her computer...I can't wait to get them!